Book review: Jesus Calling Devotional Bible, NKJV

A friend introduced us to the kids version of Jesus Calling a few months ago and we read it with the kids most days. I love how Sarah Young writes from the perspective of Jesus and it almost always relates to what we are facing that day. Because of this, I was so excited to see this book on Booksneeze.com to be reviewed. So far, I haven't been disappointed at all!

Jesus Calling Devotional Bible includes the entire Bible, in NKJV, plus 260 devotions from Ms. Young. I was a little skeptical of it being an ebook, but find I am enjoying being able to jump from scripture to scripture with the touch of my finger, highlight verses and make notes as I go (without having to hunt down a highlighter or pen), and have it all with me all the time. The personalized prayers and devotions are great, just like I expected. I also was pleased to see a topical index in the beginning and each devotion links up to others like it. This is great if you are wanting to learn more about a certain topic - just click on over to another post on it. It does not have any other study helps (maps, timeline, footnotes, etc) but if you know that going in, you will not be disappointed with this Bible. If you are like me, you have different Bibles for different needs. This is a great addition to that collection!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

1000 Gifts

No, that is not how many gifts we got our kids for Christmas. As a matter of fact, when we wrapped everything up last night, it all just about fits into one Cracker Barrel bag (except the stocking things). This Christmas, we have intentionally taken our family's focus off the material gifts and on Jesus.

We started Dec 1st going through a nightly devotional called the Jesse Tree with our family and I am happy to say that we are right on track to finish on Christmas. We missed a day here or there but caught up the next day and are on the 23rd today (even kept it up when my parents were here for a week!). That is big for us - we normally have good ideas but don't finish them. This has been a great look from creation to Jesus and nice to come together each night for this time.

A while back, there was a free app download called 1000 Gifts. I thought it looked cool so downloaded it but just glanced at it and forgot it. Earlier this month, our CC Mom's had a party and shared some of our favorite things. One sweet friend shared the book 1000 Gifts and it triggered the memory of the forgotten app. I came home and started looking at it again and fell in love with the idea of looking for God's gifts to us every day. I still haven't read the book but took the little bit I know about it and adapted it for our family. Today, I gave the kids and myself new journals. I didn't get one for Big Daddy, but he seemed interested when I told him about it so I hope he will pick one up for himself and joins us (*hint,hint*).

I challenged each of us to find 1000 gifts from God during the next year and write them in our journals every day. God gives us gifts every day but sometimes we don't even notice them. When people give you a gift at Christmas, do you accept it? Do you thank them? Do you leave it wrapped up and ignore it, stepping over it all day but never taking time to open it? I want the kids (and myself) to learn to see these gifts God gives us all day long and thank Him for those gifts. Terrific T came in this morning and was beaming because he had had such a great dream last night. I told him that dream was a gift from God and he wrote about it in his journal.

My goal is for each of us to look for God's gifts every single day, recognize they are from Him, and thank him for them. When the Lego set or Fur Real puppy they received as gifts are long forgotten, the gift of noticing God's gifts will still be there. To help achieve this....we have promised to give each of the kids $50 as a gift next Christmas if they have 1000 gifts in their journal from the year. Hey, I'm not above bribing them to get a habit like this started. I pray that next Christmas, they ask for not only their $50, but also a new journal to do this again next year.

If you think of us, please pray we stick with this. I'm excited for next Christmas. Who needs a bunch of gifts one day a year when you have already received 1000+ that year?!?

my heart is treasuring today...

Princess P lost her third tooth yesterday, then she lost her first tooth. Confused? Read on...

Yesterday morning, P woke up with a dangling tooth and finally let me pull it. She carried it in a Ziploc all day (even to WalMart) so the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come get it before she could finish her note to her (thanking her for the money and asking her what her other name is). She was sure to remind me several times that her friend, Julia, got $6 and 6 candy corns when she lost her tooth. She talked about teeth all day long. Last night, Big Daddy and I were wrapping presents and she was at the table making a craft. She had set the tooth (out of the Ziploc) on the table...to keep her company? OK, I have no idea why she had the tooth there except that she could. In the process of cutting, gluing, asking us to slide 6 cotton balls under our bedroom door for her, etc, she LOST the above mentioned lost tooth. She was devastated, like only a 6 year old girl can be. To end the crying, the whole family jumped in to search. We tore apart the dining room and couldn't find it anywhere and we finally assumed that WonderMutt must have eaten it until.... (dun, dun, duuunnnn) we found $2, tightly rolled up behind a box of oranges. That silly TF must have snuck in, while she was crafting, and took the tooth and left her money. Phew, tears were ended and we were able to go to bed (and get a good night's sleep...not waking up to put on our wings). Captain C winked and said, "Nice job." He and Terrific T play along for Princess P sake about the TF and Santa but they know who pays up around here ;)

So, fast forward to this morning.

Princess P walks in my room, while I am still sleeping, and is carrying a handful of quarters and a note. She can't read cursive so asked me to read it to her. It said:

Hello Paige,

I watched the little "accident" last night and tried ever so hard to get your 

attention, but I'm too small. Maybe next time I can fatten up so you can see me 

with your mortal eyes. For now, give Caleb (such an awesome fellow) his money back (the $2 you found on the floor). I'll give you an extra dollar since it is Christmas time and for the "accident". Don't forget to give Caleb a scream-free day for his help. 

He is a very good assistant, as you know :) 

Well, gotta fly. 

See you next tooth!

Amanda (your tooth fairy ;) )

I think I teared up a little! C stayed up late last night making this up for his sister (we never did find the tooth!). He is going to be such a good Daddy! His loser parents took an easy out to stop the tears and he stepped up and made a little girl's day/week/month!

Pastor Randall preached on Sunday and I have been thinking about it all week. He talked about how Mary treasured all the sweet little things that Jesus did in her heart (Luke 2:19, and others). He said that THOSE things are what got her through the hard times, when things weren't as pretty and sweet (her son being beaten, crucified, etc). I had never thought about it like that but he is right that that is what we as parents need to do. Treasure all these "good" things in our hearts so when the kids are acting like little stinkers, we won't be as inclined to list them on ebay...for really cheap!

This one is going in the books to treasure for a long time. I know that Captain C is a great kid, but forget that sometimes when he is arguing about every.little.thing, or has rolled his eyes at me one too many times. Yes, this one is going in the books for sure and will buy him several more month ebay-free! I'm so thankful for him.

Poor P?

We ran into Mardel yesterday and Princess P Had to have a journal that was $2. I bought it for her and she was going to pay me back at home. I just remembered to ask her for the money and it turns out, she only had $2 total to her name. When she gave me her last $2, she started saying, "I'm poor. I'm poor! People need to give me money because I am poor!"
Terrific T informed her that she is not poor and doesn't need money. They argued a bit and I just listened.
P: I'm poor. I don't have any money.
T: Do you have a home? Family? Food? Clothes? A pet? You are not poor.
P: But I don't have any money...people need to give me money.
T: Do you have a toilet? Poor people have to pee on a rock! You aren't poor.
P: yes I am.
T: Do you have a bed? Poor people have to sleep on a rock!
P: The same rock they pee on? Ewwww!

I think that finally convinced her that she isn't poor! I watched a great clip recently about being poor. It talked about what makes someone poor...and T has it right. Poor isn't about money, it is about relationships. The video asked if you lost all your money, your home, your family, your job...how long would it take you to get a meal, a bed to sleep in, another job? Most people have enough connectionships/relationships that they could get a meal in minutes if needed, a bed to sleep in that night, and some form of employment pretty quickly. They are not poor. Funny how so many people have the same attitude as P, my six year old, "I'm poor...people need to give me money!"

Interesting.

impressed but frustrated

When I saw Terrific T on Monday after CC, he was very agitated and pulling on my arm to leave. He was acting exactly like he does when he has Red 40. No reasoning with him. No making him happy. I still had to finish up at church and get things cleaned up so we were there another 30 minutes. By the time we all loaded in the car, he was done. At that point, he would have argued that his name wasn't T and he wasn't a boy. He really was arguing just for the sake of arguing. Again, exactly like he does when he has had Red 40 (see why we eliminated it?).

The only thing that he said that he ate differently was a Chips Ahoy cookie (which I gave him without checking the package). I emailed them to see if they happened to have red 40 in them because I didn't have the package. Online it only listed "caramel coloring" which I had read in the past that some caramel contains Red40. It was after hours on Monday and I figured I would get an email reply sometime this week. I just checked messages this morning, and someone from Kraft had called yesterday while I was sleeping to chat about it. She told me on the machine that they HAVE to list the colors if they are in there and it didn't have it. Very sweet. Just a minute ago, she called back to make sure I got the message and to talk more. She was so nice and actually seemed to care. She practically begged me to take coupons on other Kraft items (even cheese!). ok...twist my arm ;) I wasn't upset at Nabisco or Kraft or anything....just frustrated that I don't know what caused that reaction.  Ugh. I'm betting he ate something else without thinking, but he can't remember and there is so much candy and snacks going around right now that there is no telling.

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to Kraft for their impressive customer service. In this day and age, that is pretty rare! I've called quite a few companies about this same issue and they had, by far, the best CS I've seen.

another reason I love homeschooling...

Terrific T is starting to feel better, but now Princess P and I have been struck with the bug. I made it through our last CC day yesterday, but P laid pretty low all day and didn't get to go to her class (except when they were having cake, but come on, you have to be pretty sick to not be able to have cake!). Today, I broke out the extra strong prescription that my dr prescribed for me to take to Cambodia if I came down with anything. I didn't need it there, thankfully, but hoped it would knock this out of me before Thanksgiving (and Black Friday shopping!). I also took some Robitussin for my cough. One of those two made me super spacy and shaky. So...I curled up in front of the fire, like a cat, and napped the morning away. But not before barking out the kids school orders....


Read this:

Watch this:

And then write a paper comparing and contrasting the two.

OK, Captain C wrote the paper, the other two just listed a few things and drew pictures. They were thrilled to "not have to do school" and I got a few hours of rest so I can attempt to get over this and move on with the 1000 things I need to do this week.

Sometimes you just gotta scrap your lesson plans and wing it, and a benefit of homeschooling is that that is ok. I'll let them practice math calculating how much I am going to save on Black Friday ;)

kids these days...

Terrific T isn't feeling great so he wanted to soak in the tub. Seeing as it is school time, I couldn't let him just soak, so pulled up a movie about Abe Lincoln on Netflix and he watched that on the ipad during his bath. I went in to check on him and Princess P had brought in a tea set and was sitting beside the tub watching the movie too.

 

It got me thinking about how times have changed from when we were kids. Technology has come a long way! And then made me think of this picture that I have seen on pinterest that says our kids will never know the connection between these two things:

I wonder what technology will be like if Jesus doesn't come back before our kids have kids. And if Jesus DOES come back before then, wow, forget technology...I can't wait to be walking on those streets of gold in heaven!

Bountiful Basket

A friend of mine found Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and we decided to give it a try. We figured for $15 a basket, it was worth the risk. We were very pleasantly surprised with our basket of fruits and veggies. We also split a case of apples that our family has enjoyed for the past two weeks (and will continue to enjoy the applesauce that is frozen). We went today to pick up our baskets and it was even nicer than last time! I had to take a picture of the goodies.

For $15 we each received squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, persimmons (had to google those!), bananas, apples, grapes, blackberries, celery, kiwi, and oroblanco (also had to google those!). Then Lisa added on tangerines (they are tiny so I told the kids they were Clementines and they have eaten 2 since I walked in the door an hour ago) and squash and there were so many in her add on that she shared with me so we now have about 40 Clemintines and three huge squash (butternut, acorn, and spaghetti). We tried their bread last week and I loved that but the kids didn't so I didn't get it this time. It is all so good and I love that it is making me try new things. Please feel free to share recipes with me for any/all of the above. I'm attempting to make my menu for the week and use all of this...it will be interesting :)
Check and see if there is a Bountiful Baskets Co-Op in your area - totally worth it, in my humble opinion.

big brother advice

Terrific T: Princess P, if you are going to get married when you grow up, my suggestion is you are going to have to stop tooting so much!

Princess P: You want me to be constipated?!?!

Terrific T: No. You can eat more raisins.

What's on your mind?

Facebook asks us everyday, "What's on your mind?" Try randomly asking your kids that sometime. It is pretty interesting to hear their answers! I started asking them when we are driving and love getting a glimpse into their thoughts. Personally, I was very pleased to learn that Terrific T DOES want to get married now (originally he was going to adopt kids and then adopt a wife to take care of them because he didn't want to kiss anyone). He decided he doesn't want to have Spanish kids and wants them to look like him (one of his good friends was adopted from Guatemala ... I assume that is where that train of thought originated?). He isn't sure who is wife will be but said he thinks she will be skinny, like me. His words, not mine. (He is totally my favorite!)  Oh he also said that he is going to be a jet pilot...or maybe a preacher.

Try it - talk to your kids. They are pretty darn awesome.

Christmas is coming...time to get swaggin'

I love Swagbucks! I know I have posted about them before but if you haven't signed up, now is a great time. Tomorrow they are having a swag-a-palooza, so to speak. They are giving away 60 swagbucks during the day on their blog, facebook, twitter, etc. Love it. Normally, you earn swagbucks by searching through their search engine (instead of google or yahoo) as well as doing polls, surveys, and my personal fave...swagbucks TV. I keep it running on the side of my screen and just click on the next video (usually rotating through the same 2 or 3 all day b/c I'm not watching them or listening to them so it doesn't bug me). You can easily get 30 or more swagbucks off those each day. Every 10 videos you "watch", you get 3 points. It doesn't sound like much but it does add up fast...and you don't have to finish the videos either. You get credit when it is about 1/2 over and can switch to the next video. Easy peasy! I am started to save up now for Christmas. Every 450 points you get, you can request a $5 amazon GC. I have earned $55 so far. So...if you haven't signed up before, DO IT, and if you use my link, I get credit too which I would really appreciate ;)

Book review: Couples Who Pray

I was so excited to review this book as we are always looking for ways to improve our marriage. Husband and wife, Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt, are both in the entertainment business and were married in 2000. They have a lot of connections in the entertainment field and the book is full of stories from both their lives and from other celebrities.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The first section explains and gives examples of why it is so important to pray together with your spouse every day. They are only asking that you pray for a minimum of 5 minutes a day with your spouse...not too much to ask, is it? The second section lays out the 40 Day Challenge. There are many examples in the Bible where Jesus, and others do things for 40 days, which is why they chose for this to be a 40 Day Challenge. It is long enough to make it a habit but not too long to scare people off that are afraid of a little commitment.  The third section is about factors during your 40 days. When you commit to growing closer to God and your spouse, the Devil gets edgy. Things are going to come up that are going to try to get you to quit. This section discusses some of those things and encourages you to not give up.

I think this is a great concept and definitely believe that praying together daily will help strengthen your marriage. However, I didn't love this book. I felt like it took too much time "name dropping" and not enough time teaching, which is what I was looking for. The section on the "how to" do the challenge, was weak, in my opinion.  I found myself flipping through, looking for meat instead of fluff.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Stayin' alive, stayin' alive, woo, woo, woo, woo

I'm stayin' alive. But just no time to blog. This is my busy season for work BUT I have done a much better job this year of sticking to my limits. So far. But it still isn't leaving me the time to blog like I want. So...I'll be in and out the next month or so and then in December, work calms back down and life picks back up.
I was just editing a session and found this one in the middle of it. T and P went with me to this session and I looked over one time to see t up in this window sill.

He looked so cute that the two kiddos I was photographing climbed up in there for pictures. After that, I took my two to the pumpkin patch and had some fun. Since I had just come from a session, I had my good camera with me and loved this picture I got.

They are such good friends. I love that!

OK, break's over. I'll be back.....

Like my pants?

Terrific T told me today that he really liked my pants.
He is so thoughtful. They really are cute jeans (and cost $2.88 so extra cute, right?).
"Not your pants...your parents!"
Oops. Sorry, I misunderstood. I like my parents too!

I hadn't seen them in a long time. The kids got to see them when I was in Cambodia in June but I can't remember the last time they were out here. It was such a nice visit and over too soon.

Thanks for coming to OK! We love and miss you all!

Appropriate...or not?

Captain C just read his IEW paper to me that is due on Monday. It is about the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Background: Goodman John Howland falls over board and then here is the part in question:

"Luckily for him, some sailors noticed and somehow quit laughing long enough to help him up. They sprinted over to a nearby hook and used it to grab him but accidentally grabbed his underwear. He probably had never been more grateful for a wedgie in his life. Goodman Howland was also very thankful to be back on the boat again. He thanked the people for the wedgie and wobbled to the lower deck to readjust his underwear."

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that isn't appropriate in the classical Christian community we are in...and that I lead. Yikes. Looks like he will be readjusting his paper this week.

Out of her mouth

Out of the blue on the way home tonight, P says, "If I get a guinea pig, I'm going to name it Guinea or Fluffy or Concord, New Hampshire."

So, there ya go.

Really?

Me: How are you feeling today?
Terrific T: Great
Me: Really?
Terrific T: Oh, you want the truth? I feel awful, like someone is sticking a knife in my stomach and my head hurts.....but I want to keep playing.

He spent the entire day yesterday in bed so I guess he is afraid I'll send him back there if he is "still sick". He is sitting on the floor doing puzzles today, a big step up from yesterday. He started saying he felt bad on Wed so we stayed home from church that night. On Thursday, his throat looked nasty and his blood sugar was low so we knew something was up. I took him in and he had strep. She wanted to prescribe Ammoxicillian, but he is allergic. She prescribed Zythromax , but we found out at the pharmacy that it has Red40 in it (both the liquid and the pills - nice). The pharmacist and doctor talked and came up with Erythromycin for him, since it is a white pill. I don't know if it made him sick or what but he spent pretty much all day yesterday throwing up and moaning. He is still taking it and doing ok today so he either got used to it or had a little tummy bug in there too. So glad he seems to be on the mend, even if he is lying about feeling good.

So, how are you doing today? Really?

Tis the Season

With the change in weather (which I am LOVING), so begins the season of illnesses. Strep is making the rounds in O-town and who knows what else. For the past few years, we have all been taking D3 daily during these months. I got my Lucky Vitamin order in today with three new bottles in it (and still had two full bottles and one with a couple capsules in it left over from last year). Time to start us all back on these again. They are cheap and seem to work during the months we aren't getting enough D from the sun.

What do you do to prevent fall/winter illnesses without putting your family in a bubble?

post of randomness

Not sure if I am tired or stressed or just flat losing my mind, but I checked out a book from the library last week for some mindless reading (I totally judge books by their cover and if it is pretty and I have heard of the publisher, I'll get it. Lame, I know but it rarely fails me.). I started it this weekend and read about 100 pages. It was pretty good. Last night I was wiped out after CC and went straight to bed after we got home at 5:30. I laid there and read until I finished the book about 8. About page 154, it started sounding familiar...like I knew what was coming next. I have totally read this book before. How did I not notice that this weekend when I started and read about 1/2 of it. I still read the rest of the book last, and it was still good. But apparently it isn't very memorable ;)

As for my last post...Thanks for all the kind words (and for calling your BFF to get the scoop, you know who you are ;o) ). It was funny that several people thought it had to do with them and totally different situations. lol. I'm not teetering on the edge of losing it or anything and still don't feel like it is the time to talk about it but it does feel good to just type it out.

In other news. I had the kids Halloween costumed planned...and then a Halloween Express catalog came in the mail (WHY???) and they have changed their minds. Now we are back to square one and just glad I hadn't started making them yet.

mum's the word

I just wrote an entire blog post about a certain situation that is getting on my very last nerve...then deleted it without posting it. It's better really. Years ago, a very wise person said:

Just because it it true, it doesn't always need to be said.

Just because it needs to be said, it doesn't always need to be said by you.

So...I'm not saying a word, not one single word....even though IMHO, it does need to be said. I am not going to be the one to say it.

Yet.

hands and feet

Yesterday at CC, we studied our fingerprints, which was very cool. In Science today, we were studying how perfectly God made our hands and feet. We talked about how our hands and feet were created for specific purposes and if you tried to walk on your hands all day, it would be pretty tough. We tried walking around the living room on our hands, which they did ok with as long as they had help...so I upped the ante and had them try to walk upstairs. That was a little tougher ;)

Then they tried opening the front door...with their feet.

He was doing ok until he realized the top lock was locked - haha!

Then on to writing their name...with their feet. Good times...T is ♥ing this ;)

I didn't take pics of them attempting to do things without their thumbs (try snapping without your thumb, for instance) and stopped the game just before they wanted to brush their teeth with their feet.

We also watch a couple of videos about Joni Eareckson Tada, which made us thankful that our hands and feet still work as they were intended!

I'll take it!

Tonight, when I was tucking Terrific T in bed, he was hugging me and said, "Having you is better than having a guinea pig."

To some, that might be slightly offensive but I will take that compliment from him and run. He hasn't always been overly affectionate. Just recently, he has become a total Momma's boy and I am loving it (sorry Big Daddy...your turn will come as he gets older). He has been begging for a guinea pig for weeks but we told him he needed to save his money AND be more responsible before we would let him get one. In the past, he bought a little aquarium for his desk and has bought fish, a frog, and little see-through- shrimp things...which have all died. So before we buy a "non flush-able" pet, he needs to learn how to be responsible for his toys, etc. Come to think of it, maybe his statement was saying "Forget responsibility...I've got you and that's good enough." Hmmmm....Nah. I am taking it as "I love you more than the thing I want most" and going to bed a happy Momma :)

Beautiful day

We all slept in until 9ish today, which was so nice...and needed.  For some reason Wondermutt wanted to go outside every 2 hours last night. She never does that. Ugh!

At breakfast, Terrific T had a thought: "If mermaids were real, how wrinkly would they be?" That made for some interesting conversation.

School went great and the weather is just perfect right now so we finished up the school day out back, reviewing states and capitals:

And making things out of clay:

The kids are playing nicely together the past few days, which has been awesome.  I think the nice weather has even helped their spirits. Loving it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

You read that right. Happy Thanksgiving! Many celebrated Labor Day today...the E's celebrated Thanksgiving. We have been studying the Pilgrims this week in school so decided to have a Thanksgiving feast while Big Daddy was off work to help us. Here is Princess P's Mayflower she made last week:

 (thanks to this awesome blog for the idea!)

Wondermutt thought we were nuts...but we pressed on. What does she know anyway?!?

The kids set the table and made a center piece and some pretty place settings using flowers they cut out back and SillyBandz to wrap them up.

Our own little Pilgrim shucked some corn.

Um...yes, she dressed herself.

He did too.

Dinner was yummy - turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc. I tried a crock pot apple crisp that I don't recommend. Other than that, it was a success...and that's not to say we skipped the dessert. Oh goodness no. We ate it. It just wasn't very good. As Paige said, "This tastes like that oatmeal that I don't like" and then she finished her bowl.

We considered playing a game of football outback after dinner but we were stuffed. Instead, we settled for racing around like idiots on this wagon. I even took a turn until Big Daddy pooped out and quit pushing me ;o)

I think my favorite part was listening to each person tell what they are thankful for. Terrific T even told me he was listing things he was thankful for while he was showering. It made me laugh when I asked him to tell me 3 things...he said, "God, you, and Sunni (the dog)...oh and food, yes, food is up there too!" I told them our food would go cold if I had to list ALL the things I was thankful for, but these three monkeys are tops on my list. 

 

I think Big Daddy is thankful that I won't be getting up at 4am tomorrow to go spend a couple hundred dollars on Black Friday shopping ;o) 

What are you thankful for on this fake Thanksgiving Day?

spoiled

I still haven't finished blogging about my trip to Cambodia earlier this summer. I don't know what my mental road block was but I just kept putting it off. It was such an amazing trip and I know I can't adequately put my thoughts into words so I guess I just filed it away in my brain. Until today. I grabbed what I thought was an empty memory card tonight to take pics of the kids real quickly. It wasn't empty. Out of the 800+ pictures I took on the trip, there was ONE picture that I never saw when I was scrolling through them all when I was home. I looked several times over the next month and then accepted that I wasn't going to find that picture. Until tonight! There were 6 pictures already on this card when I grabbed it and this picture was one of them:

Seems so simple yet brought back a ton of memories. This precious lady was visiting the center while we were there. One (maybe more?) of her children live there. She was thanking me, I think, and kept shaking and rubbing my hands. Now, after a week there, I picked up about 3 words in Khmer so honestly had no idea what she was saying, but it "seemed" like she was telling me my hands were very white and soft. She kept comparing our hands. Her's...dark, rough, calloused. Mine...pale, soft, smooth. We called a translator over to help us out and she was, indeed, amazed by the paleness and softness of my hands. It hit me (and seeing this picture again reminded me) that pretty much every thing she does in her normal daily life, we have machines to do. Really. Dishes - check. Laundry - check. Heck, even transportation - check! Our days here have been hotter temperature-wise than when we were in Cambodia...but we have A/C and just come inside when it is hot out. They try to find shade. There is no nice way to say this...Americans are spoiled. We are white and soft and spoiled.

We asked someone to take a picture of us and they did (I don't even remember who it was - just figured I would get it when I got back home). She found me later and asked me to take one with MY camera. You see, while we were there, my camera=prints. We brought two printers and I took pictures of all 800 kids and a lot of parents too and we printed them on the spot for them. This sweet lady wanted a picture of us to keep. Someone else taking it didn't get her that. I would say that I wonder if she still has it but I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that. I'm printing this up now for myself so I can remember to pray for her now that I'm back in my spoiled lifestyle, and so I will not forget.

Got any favor in your eyes lately?

Princess P was praying this morning and added in, "please help Daddy get favor in his eyes at work today." I had to chuckle. When we pray in the morning, I'll often add a request for Big T to find favor in the eyes of his bosses. Seems she has been listening...lol.

Hoppy Monday :)

Do you think he was there to deposit or withdraw something?

Jonah was a Prophet - woo woo

I worked in the nursery on Sunday and missed the message at church, so listened to the service tonight while making pizzas. Our pastor is doing a series on Jonah (hard to not sing the VeggieTales song whenever he says that Jonah was a prophet). Terrific T was sweeping the dining room while I was cooking, so he was listening too. He was started to get annoyed and finally said, "Why would God let Jonah do that if He already knew what he was going to do?" He likes to keep me on my toes with spiritual questions. I love it. So we had a nice long talk about free will and if God just made us do what He wanted, we would be like robots, or remote control cars. No will and mind of our own. How special would it be to God if we told Him we loved and adored Him, simply because He told us to say it? Like the difference between making your kids say the words "I'm sorry" and them genuinely showing remorse and being sorry. Night and day difference. I think it is the same with God. He doesn't want us obeying because he is making us, He wants us obeying because we want to because we love Him. We talked for quite a while and he ended it with, "You should be a preacher. You answered that good."

Well, thanks for the encouragement, honey, but I think I'll stick with teaching you guys ("when to use 'well' and when to use 'good'" will be next on my list!) and leave the preaching to someone else!

100 workout

I have been seriously lacking motivation lately (can I still use "lately" if it has been over a year?) but decided to, once again, get back on that wagon. I am tired of my clothes being too tight. It's grossing me out. So, I could either go buy all new clothes, or move my fat hiney more and eat less. Hmmm....tough call but it seems more prudent to do the later. So, today, Captain C and I started the 100 Workout. I have tried to figure out where it came from but I have no idea. I like that it is easy to do and doesn't require anything extra. We printed out this...

...and got to it. We did it in about 18 minutes...but only ran 2 minutes instead of 10 and then ended with 10 totally girly pushups. It's too hot to run outside and we were bugging the dog by running laps in the living room. I thought someone was lighting my legs on fire about jumping jack 70, but C kept going and I wasn't going to let him show me up so I pushed through it. We are going to see how long it takes us to do this 100 times. If we were to do it every day, we would be done the end of November. I'm also going to see if I can lose 10 pounds during this 100 days. Surely I can, right? Anyone want to join me on this fun journey? Please? I need accountability! So...how about you do it too (yes, you!) and post about it and keep asking me about it. Kinda like going to the gym together but it is totally ok to be wearing your too tight gym clothes since we won't be in public, and we don't have to worry about childcare. Bonus! :)

Who's in?

What's a "butt-eye"?

Anyone know. It seems to be my kids favorite word and I have no idea what they are talking about. Please enlighten me....

For example:

Me: You need to go finish your reading.
Child: Butt-eye don't want to.

Me: It's time to shower.
Child: Butt-eye just showered last night/week/month/etc.

Me: I need you to clean your bathroom today.
Child: Butt-eye want to play Wii.

Seriously - If hear butt-eye one more time today, I'm gonna start spanking some butt-eyes!

Monday, Monday

Princess P got up this morning whining, "Why can't every day be Monday?" Yesterday was our first day back to Classical Conversations. Everyone had such a great time that they want to do it everyday. I love that. We have a great team of people making CC happen, and happen well. It takes a lot of work, but is worth it to have the kids loving it and learning in the process. Thank you to all the families in Classical Coversations of Owasso - you guys rock!

Wish I could pull off a moo-moo like this.

I am loving this dress that I got for $1.99 today...even if it totally is a little girl moo-moo. Someone tell me that she looks freakin' cute and she doesn't look like Mama. Thanks.

She just got home from the best birthday "party" evah...Build-a-Bear and Cheesecake Factory with her BFF. She had a blast and has a new furry BFF to sleep with now. She made me laugh telling me about "the cheese that was like chocolate chip or something". She said it didn't taste like cheese at all! She will likely never eat cheddar again *sigh* Darn friends spoiling our kids ;) Reminds me of the friend that took Captain C out after school in 1st grade and he came home saying, "Did you know you can eat INSIDE Arby's?!?!" Shoot - that was one cat that wouldn't go back in the bag. So much less germy to just take it home but we do suck it up and let them go in more now that they quit putting everything in their mouths.

Back to School Pictures

It is hard to believe another year has come and gone already. It is also hard to believe that we started our 5th year of homeschooling on Monday. Wow! Here are the kids back to school comparison pictures. I love to see how much they have changed. I'm so upset that I lost 2007 in a computer crash but glad I still have the others. You can click on them to make them larger.

And yes, Paige is wearing long sleeves but the dress matches her backpack and lunchbox so she had to get it ;)

CC starts on Monday but we started a week early to get a jump start on things. So far, so good!

I love these little pupils so much and am very blessed to be able to teach them again. It's going to be a great year!

Thankful for a mohawk.

A guy at karate had a mohawk.

Terrific T liked it and wanted one.

I gave him one, against my better judgement.

That was 3 summers ago and he has had one every summer since.

I had no there was a mole under there that was harboring atypical cells.

We were able to watch it every year and noticed when it changed.

Thank you, Lord, for mohawks.

PS. Wear your sunscreen, people, 

and get anything that looks odd checked out sooner than later!

Not so Wordless Wednesday: Jesus Bring the Rain!

But please leave our trees....

Terrific T was concerned about the bird's nest that was in it. Big Daddy said it was ugly anyway, but that was our only shade tree in the backyard. Oh well, more firewood for winter :)

We were in a serious drought here so this soaking is so wonderful.

Speaking of Jesus Bring the Rain - love this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

Will you allow me to rant?

While I was doctoring up Terrific T's head (which is looking fab, by the way...oh and I finished Mini-Shopaholic while we were on vacation and it was fab too), he says, "I'm being such a lame@$$.". After I regained the ability to talk, I asked him, "What?" He repeated it the same. I said, "You are being a what?" And he said it one more time. So now we have established that he was, in fact, cussing. Moving on. "Where did you hear that?" "Well, Gulliver said it in Gulliver's Travels."

Oh My Goodness. Why do they put stuff like that in KID'S MOVIES? ( <---see, told you I was going to rant, you knew the CAPS were coming, right?) Makes me so mad.

So we had a nice discussion during the Neosporin applying phase about @$$ being a bad word and we don't say bad words and blah, blah, blah. So frustrating that you can't put in a kids movie and it be...kid friendly. BTW, I'm inclined to agree with Gulliver here... He is pretty much a lame@$$ for teaching kids bad words!

No More Mole

Thank you so much to everyone that prayed for Terrific T. He was a champ today getting his mole removed. I wasn't going to post about it but figured it might be a good time to throw some mole education out there to ya...you are welcome! First, a friend and her hubby have had way too many mole encounters so was a huge help to me through all of this. Thank you so much, CW (and for the surprise for T when we got home!). I think she is the one who told me about the ABCDs of a mole.

Asymmetry

Border

Color

Diameter

A- asymmetry. Suspicious mole does not look like a round or oval blot. Often, early melanoma looks rather like a blot with an odd shape.
B- borders. Borders become irregular, uneven, fuzzy. The edges of the blots become notched.
C- color. Color of normal mole should be more or less homogenous. Change in color is very suspicious . There are shades of brown, black, tan, red. Mottled color is suspicious.
D- diameter. Change in diameter is suspicious too. Mole that is bigger than 6 mm is suspicious. Everybody compares 6 mm to a pencil eraser (though few people actually use it extensively). Just to get idea about the borderline size.

T's hit too many of those for comfort .....

So we had it removed today.

He got a new Webkinz to hold during the procedure and the promise of a wicked cool scar, and we got peace of mind that since it is gone, it can't cause trouble later on. If you have any suspicious moles, please get them checked as soon as possible. It really can mean the difference between life and death if caught early enough.

They will give us the results in a week or so but I have a complete peace that all is ok. They took enough around the mole that she felt like even if it were starting something (really hate saying the C word when talking about my kid!), they got it and he will not have to go back for it again. Thanks again for the prayers. He really impressed us being so brave through it all. I had been putting numbing cream on it for about 4 hours before the surgery but those shots still hurt pretty bad and he just curled his knees up and let her do it. After that it was a breeze. Big Daddy and I were there with him, playing ipad games with him to distract him, but he never tried to move or anything (except when he was reeling in a virtual fish and it was a big one - lol) . It was a huge answer to prayer. If it had been a struggle, I might have just left and not done it ;) I'm so glad to have that behind us!

Heat Wave Perks

All the talk lately has been about the heat. Help me thinking good things about it possibly breaking a heat record today in our town. I've read all the negatives in everyone's status updates for weeks and I'm trying to think positively.

1 - We just had slushies before breakfast. Nothing like cooling off your insides to start your day and Captain C made them for us (crushed ice, lemon juice and I'm pretty sure I was chewing some sugar in there too).

2 - Saving money drying clothes outside. As soon as one load is finished washing, the previous ones are already dry out back...making laundry go faster (in theory). It would take an hour for them to dry in the dryer...and we can use the money saved on running toe dryer to pay for the a/c that is trying to keep up.

3 - Family bonding. We don't want to leave the house so have been staying home. The house is getting cleaner and things are getting done.

4 - Getting caught up on work. I am slowly getting caught up on work, both photo and CC work. It is too hot to do much else :)

5 - No rain = no growth = no mowing. Woot!

6 - Keeping up with the Jonses. Heck, if all the neighbors are going to have dead lawns, we don't feel so badly about ours being dead. Finally, we fit in around here!

7 - Gas tanks are staying fuller which saves money. Again, who wants to leave the house?

What else? Add yours in the comments.

Faith of a child

I just overheard Princess P getting frustrated that her Didj isn't working. Then heard, "Dear Jesus. Please make my Didj work right now!" and instantly it turned on. Praise the Lord for her faith and Jesus caring enough about the " little things".

And in other news....

Terrific T is getting super annoyed that he has bright green...poop! Can you tell what caused it? Yikes!!

Birthdays are good for something at least!

....and it isn't for getting older! I am so over being old. Seriously. I still feel inside like I am 20, but the lines on my face and weight that doesn't fall off anymore say otherwise. I hate it. BUT I do love that you can milk your "special day" for all it's worth. You know what I mean, right? The day before we left on vacation, I quickly threw together matching (but not matchy-matchy...no worries) outfits with the hopes of doing some family pictures in the mountains. The last time I took family pics was over a year ago, so it was time for some new ones. We have been putting it off all week because it has been raining most evenings and I knew we would have to get up at the crack of dawn and...well...we are NOT early risers around here. But today I used the "my birthday is tomorrow and all I want is happy family pictures" card and what do you  know? It worked. No tears. No whining. I'm so excited to get home and look through them all. I can't load my CF card onto the laptop to see them but keep scrolling through them (all 4 memory cards of them!) on the camera screen. I'm one pleased mama...and even ok with turning another year older tomorrow. Beats the alternative, right?

Here is one shot from my little camera from two nights ago. {funny side story....yes, again. I bought a new Canon Powershot to take with me to Cambodia. I bought it the week before I left and lost it the next day somehow. It had been more than a month and was driving us nuts that we couldn't find it. Sure, it was little, but it was in a red case. The day before we left for CO, Big Daddy was in the closet under the stairs getting a visor for himself and found it. Apparently, I had put it in there once when there was a tornado threat and forgot to get it out. I always put all my good cameras and external hard drives in there with us but I guess I threw this in there too since it was new. So glad he found it as we have used the fire out of it this week.}

The last double rainbow I saw was when we were leaving Poipet, Cambodia after our week there. God is so amazing. I love it. This one was huge and we could see the entire thing, from one end to the other. I couldn't get it all in one shot, unfortunately, but got a few...love this one!

love

Terrific T picked these for me today on a hike.
Love them.
Love him.

At least she is honest

I was correcting Princess P yesterday and telling her she needs to quit acting spoiled. She quickly replied, "I'm not acting spoiled...I AM spoiled!!!"

Admitting is the first step, right?

I have good people, y'all!

Me to friend: Hey, Can you keep 2/3 of my kids for an undetermined amount of time so I can take the other one for minor surgery?
Awesome friend: Sure!

Me to another friend: Hey, Can I leave my dog with you to hang out for, oh, say 9 days while we frolick around CO?
Another awesome friend: Sure!

Me to yet another fabulous friend: Hey, Can I have a ridiculous amount of art supplies delivered to your house because I will be out of town but don't want to miss out on the 20% off sale?
3rd fab friend: Sure!

Seriously, I couldn't imagine doing life with better friends. You guys are the best! xoxo

Do I get stitches today?

Terrific T keeps asking me this. We went in yesterday to have a suspicious birthmark/mole looked at and they are going to remove it in a few weeks. He is so pumped because they said he gets stitches.

I'm glad he is excited because his momma gets queasy just thinking about it. You see...it's on his head, about 5cm behind his ear. Where there is no fat (not that he has any anywhere on his body). And he will be awake. And me and Big Daddy (oh yes you are) will have to hold him down while they do it. I asked if they could write a script for vallum and they said yes. I probably ought to have them write one for one for Terrific T too ;) Just kidding. Kinda.

A good friend is all too familiar with this process and has been walking me though it. Even while she is on vacation (now that is a good friend!). And I know he will be ok and this is more preventative than anything, but I don't like my baby having his head cut into. Call me crazy. I would appreciate the prayers that it is super easy for him and I don't pass out on him. I remember when I was in high school, I had a birthmark removed off my head and my dad about passed out. I still remember being able to see his feet as he was hiding behind the equipment in the room so he didn't have to see it ;)

Parenting is hard, y'all. These little boogers get right into your heart and you hurt when they hurt, and worry when they worry. I know he is thinking about it because he keeps talking about it. But so far, it is excitement about it...and I can live with that.

Mini Shopaholic!

I was looking up some books to request from the library, and on a whim typed in Sophia Kinsella to see if she had something new. Who knew? I loved her other Shopaholic books got good at mentally *bleeping* a LOT though) so downloaded this one last night and started reading it. Hilarious that she now has a little 2 year old mini me.

Have you read it?

And I thought we were healthy ;)

Terrific T has a dr appt tomorrow so I printed out all the new patient paperwork just now to fill out ahead of time (trying to minimize our wait time since it will be me and the three kids). I was reading the list of "have you ever had/has anyone in your family ever had" ailments to Big Daddy because I don't know all of his family's history. {side bar - any idea how many generations you are supposed to go back on those forms? Just us, the parents? Our parents, so his grandparents? Our grandparents? Goodness - we didn't know where to stop and didn't want to get an answer wrong if it was important}

It went something like this:

Me: Heart Trouble?
Big Daddy: Hmmm
Terrific T: Yes! Princess P. (she was at the dr for that earlier this month but all the tests came back ok. I think we can safely leave that off but do have it in our grandparents...better mention it, just in case that is important)
Me: Blood Disease?
Big Daddy: No
Terrific T: Yes! N4 (his cousin with diabetes)
Me: We cover that later under diabetes. Headaches?
Big Daddy: No
Terrific T: Oh yes - I have had a headache
Me: Dry Skin?
Big Daddy: No
Terrific T: Uh Huh! I have some right here on my knee!
Me: numbness or tingling?
Terrific T: YES! Sometimes I wake up and my foot is tingling.
Me: Nose Bleeds?
Big Daddy and Terrific T: Yes! (finally...one that T does have!)

It went on and on with T thinking he has had everything mentioned and us marking no to everything but nose bleeds and jaundice...I felt obligated since he did have slight jaundice as a baby.

Should be an interesting visit. Prayers are welcome!

Forget the dog...

Beware of guard clone.

Consider yourself warned.

As American As...Blueberry Pie

When we were dating, I made Big Daddy a blueberry pie that he liked so much, he mentioned it in our premartial counseling. Our pastor thought that was so sweet that he mentioned during our wedding. I have made a handful of them over the years but not nearly as often as I should because I don't like them don't have nearly enough hours in my day.

Today, Big Daddy stayed home from work because he isn't feeling well. I noticed that Aldi had blueberries for $.99/pint so swung by and picked up a pint or 7. {funny side story....Aldi only takes cash or debit cards. I always have plenty of cash but hadn't gotten cash this week and had just been to three other stores and spent all but $10. I wasn't even thinking about where I was going so I get through the checkout line and he tells me it is $14. Hmmm. I had to ask him to put things back and just kept the 7 pints of blueberries and 3 pounds of strawberries. The next two customers were older gentlemen who both were so sweet and offered to pay the difference but I wouldn't let them. I was cracking up...and glad the kids weren't with me to see mom have to put things back. I know they would have thought we were poor now - haha! Lesson learned: I'll be double checking my envelopes from now on before I go there! Now back to the regularly scheduled blog post} Some wives make their sick hubbies chicken noodle soup, I went the blueberry pie route instead. And since I had put everything else back at the store today, we had cereal for dinner and blueberry pie for dessert. Hope it helps him feel better...or at least know he is loved!!

Such a good little helper

This old cookbook falls open to this page on its own.

I don't eat blueberry pie but I heard it was yummy.